Aug. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. lost a patent lawsuit in
Japan as a Tokyo judge ruled that Samsung Electronics Co.
smartphones and a tablet computer didn’t infringe on an Apple
invention for synchronizing music and video data with servers.

Apple was ordered by Tokyo District Judge Tamotsu Shoji
today to pay costs of the lawsuit after his verdict, the latest
decision in a global dispute between the technology giants over
patents used in mobile devices. Samsung shares rose, erasing
earlier losses.

“It’s hard to believe the products belong to the range of
technologies of the claimant,” Shoji said in dismissing Apple’s
case.

Apple and Samsung are battling over the smartphone market,
estimated by Bloomberg Industries to be worth $219 billion last
year, with patent disputes being litigated on four continents.
Apple won a $1.05 billion verdict in the U.S. on Aug. 24, with a
jury finding that Suwon, South Korea-based Samsung infringed six
of seven patents for mobile devices. The two companies are also
bound by commercial deals involving components supply.

Apple, the maker of iPhones, sued Samsung, the world’s
biggest maker of mobile phones, in Tokyo last year, claiming the
Galaxy S, Galaxy Tab and Galaxy S II infringed the patent on
synchronization, and sought 100 million yen ($1.3 million) in
damages, according to court documents. The Galaxy series of
products in Japan is offered by NTT DoCoMo Inc., the country’s
biggest mobile-phone company.

Samsung Shares

Samsung welcomed the decision, the company said in a
statement. Carolyn Wu, a spokeswoman for Apple, declined to
comment.

The Tokyo court also ruled out today an injunction request
by Apple to bar Samsung from offering eight models of Galaxy
products in Japan, said Kenichi Hasegawa, a Tokyo-based
spokesman for Samsung.

Shares of the South Korean company rose as much as 1.6
percent after the ruling, reversing an earlier decline, and
closed 1.5 percent higher at 1.233 million won in Seoul. Apple
shares fell as much as 2.1 percent in German trading before
changing hands at 528.9 euros.

Samsung doesn’t provide sales figures for Japan. The
company generated about 12 percent of its revenue from Asia,
excluding South Korea and China, in the quarter ended June 30,
according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Cupertino, California-based Apple got 5.7 percent of its
sales in Japan during the same period, according to the data.

IPad, IPhone Bans

“This will likely turn the tide in favor of Samsung,”
said Kim Hyung Sik, Seoul-based analyst at Taurus Investment
Securities Co. “Samsung had this win in a country that’s strong
at intellectual property. The mood is turning positive for
Samsung.”

Samsung’s method of synchronizing multimedia content
between mobile devices and computers installed with its Kies
software doesn’t infringe a patent held by Apple, the Japanese
court said in a statement.

The software distinguishes a file by its name and size,
contrary to Apple’s claim it uses other information such as the
length of content to recognize which files need synchronizing,
according to the statement.

NTT DoCoMo will keep making efforts to prevent patent
disputes, Naoko Minobe, a spokeswoman for the Tokyo-based
carrier, said by phone today.

U.S., Korea Rulings

Both companies were barred from selling some phones and
tablet computers in South Korea on Aug. 24 when a Seoul Central
District Court ruled they infringed each other’s patents.

Apple was ordered to stop selling the iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4,
iPad 1 and iPad 2 in South Korea, while Samsung must stop
selling 12 products including the Galaxy S, Galaxy S II and
Galaxy Tab. Apple was also ordered to pay Samsung 40 million won
($35,000) and the South Korean company must pay its U.S. rival
25 million won for the patent infringments.

In the U.S., where Samsung had been barred from selling the
Galaxy 10.1 tablet, Apple sought to extend the ban to eight
models of Samsung smartphones following the jury verdict. U.S.
District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, has scheduled a
Dec. 6 hearing on Apple’s request.

In Australia, a preliminary ban on Galaxy 10.1 tablet sales
was overturned by the highest court in December. A judge last
month began hearing Samsung’s claim that Apple products infringe
its patents on wireless transmission. That trial also includes
Apple’s claim that Samsung phones and tablets infringe its
patents on touch-screen technology.

Samsung retained its position as the world’s biggest seller
of smartphones in the second quarter, holding about 35 percent
of the market, Strategy Analytics said in July. Apple had the
second slot with about 18 percent, according to the market
researcher.